Why would I like to see Mike McGinn as Seattle’s next mayor? A lot of it has to do with his three pronged, people-centric agenda.

First, there is the emphasis on education and holding the city accountable for the state of Seattle’s schools. If Seattle wants to be a world class city, then it needs to take a hands-on approach to education. It’s just that simple. Our schools are the city’s unofficial R&D department and talent incubator. People will move to be part of a great school, and they will leave to escape a poor one.

Second, McGinn wants to provide a citywide, high speed fiber optic network to every citizen. Not only will this upgrade help the city to continue to attract and attain its knowledge workers, but it will allow those without access an opportunity to develop their digital talents as well. The internet is no longer a nicety. It is where a large portion of Seattleites work, play, and collaborate–continuing to treat this vital piece of infrastructure as trivial is a big mistake.

Lastly, by focusing on local transportation solutions, McGinn goes a long way toward solving one of the biggest problems facing our city. Instead of worrying about how to move more cars, a people-centric plan works to move more people. Getting people out of their cars and onto bikes, side-walks, and buses is good for our neighbourhoods, local businesses–and goes a long way toward reducing Seattle’s greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Since I have always been a person who is drawn to the big picture, to me, Mike McGinn seems like the only candidate who really gets it.

Remember during the 2008 campaign season, when progressives around the State of Washington were working their tails off to get Governor Gregoire re-elected because her opponent, Dino Rossi, just wasn’t sure if global warming existed.

Even Al Gore made a last minute plea for Gregoire at a fund raiser and Gregoire advisor, Jenny Durkan, warned all those present of just how much the environment would suffer under Rossi’s leadership.

Durkan said that in a Rossi administration, BIAW Executive Vice President Tom McCabe would be “the de facto Department of Ecology head.” She asked “How much would you pay not to have him running the Department of Ecology?”

Well, surprise, surprise!

Who knew that way back in 2007 Governor Gregoire had already decided it was imperative to keep the last remaining coal-fired power plant in Washington State operational. She even went as far as initiating secret negotiations with TransAlta, the plants owners, to avoid the prying eyes of the public.

Never mind the fact that burning coal to produce electricity is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, or that her friend, Al Gore, has called for a moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired plants and believes the U.S. should stop burning coal.

What should we do? We should stop burning coal . . . without sequestering the CO2. The coal and oil companies have spent in the United States alone a half a billion dollars in the first eight months of this year promoting a lie that there is such a thing as “clean coal.” Clean coal’s like healthy cigarettes — it does not exist. It could theoretically exist. The only demonstration plant was canceled. How many, how many such plants are there? Zero. How many blueprints? Zero.

Evidently, Gregoire was for global warming before she was against it. Sorry Al, it looks like we all got played.